Late rush of nominations

It has been a case of going from slim pickings to an embarrassment of riches.

Last week, nominations for community boards in the local elections were slow to fill, and as the final date for submissions loomed on Friday, several community boards were still short of the six vacancies needed to fill the board, let alone run an election.

There were moments when it looked as though the Strath Taieri, Mosgiel-Taieri, Saddle Hill, Waikouaiti Coast and West Harbour Community Boards would all have less than the six nominations needed to fill vacancies and would have uncontested appointments.

But a cascade of candidates raced to the finish line at the very last moment, and now it looks like there will be a vibrant election campaign ahead for the community board seats.

Final nomination numbers are: Waikouaiti Coast Community Board 8, Saddle Hill Community Board 8 , Strath Taieri Community Board 12 , Otago Peninsula Community Board 12, Mosgiel-Taieri Community Board 13, West Harbour Community Board 16.

simon.henderson@thestar.co.nz